Tune of the Month, May 2023, "My Neighbour TOTORO - Main Theme Song

[Kyle V]

Thanks Jill, Anna, Nora and Nancy!

Hi Anna I really enjoyed your two interpretations of this tune. Thanks for contributing to Tune of the Month.

[Kyle V]

Hi Everyone!

This is a callout for song learning ideas for June 2023.

The category is North American/British/English Popular Accordion Songs.

What shall we do for June?

[Reeka]

Kyle the softness of your play makes this tune very special - great version!
Anna, you make a completely different, very joyful tune out of it; the waltz version fits is so well.
Thank you both!

[annadalvi]

Anna, you make a completely different, very joyful tune out of it; the waltz version fits is so well.

Oh, I’m so glad that came through. I was worried it wasn’t joyful enough. The original is just so happy and cheerful and I really wanted mine to be too, but I know I have a tendency towards the melancholy when I play. I was trying very hard to channel the cheery energy of Hisaishi’s movie-version.

[Kyle V]

Thanks Reeka!

Hopefully we will see more performances here soon.

Also any ideas from the North American/British category for next month's song...?

[NC Poole]

Hi Tune of the Month-ers,

This song is in my regular repertoire, I’ve been playing it almost every day for over a year, and yet I absolutely could not get a smooth take for this video!! The two times I was happy with the takes I realized the video had stopped recording halfway through!!! Blast!!

Sometimes I get hung up on the recording part and forget to enjoy the actual playing. I’m not here to be perfect; I’m here to have fun. So please enjoy this sloppy but happy take on one of my very favorite accordion songs.



Cheers,
Nora

[annadalvi]

That's lovely Nora! So many nice little runs and ornaments.

I hate recording things. It's always WAY harder than just playing. And it's easy to get stuck in the mind frame of "perfection" (whatever that is), and then lose some of the spontaneity and musicality in the process. Your Totoro sounds wonderful.

[Kyle V]

Hi Nora I enjoyed your performance very very much! I like the musette sound. It really suits it. Thanks for contributing.

[Jan v]

Hoi, I am really impressed by the contributions. So wonderfull.

My contribution is a work in progress. The complexity of the song in combination with the left hand, I think I need another month. First of all the mulitifingering took a lot of time. Although there is not a formal deadline, the month period pushes me to get something delivered.

Not performance ready, still I wanted to share my learning and especially I want to understand how you create this great bass ritm (Nora and Anna). I appriciate if you can show/visualize how this works.



Regards,

Jan.

[Jan v]

For next month, I like Beirut and Cohen songs.